If we lie to ourselves long enough, we will begin to believe those lies. And after 40 years, enough people believe the lies of abortion that they are hardly concerned about the loss of a baby. When babies die, these people chalk it up to choice. No one wants to hear the realities of abortion – that the result is a dead child, and sometimes a dead mother as well. Today's commentary shows just how callous our society has become.

The most recent case of America's denial that the preborn child is a person once again reminds us that, culturally, our ability to deal honestly with our fellow human beings is so twisted that it becomes hideous to those with eyes to see. When a New Jersey court ruled that a woman who had cocaine in her system was not guilty of abusing her preborn child, the major media – with the exception of Bill O'Reilly – yawned and moved on.

To his credit, O'Reilly, who has his own problems including at times calling the preborn child a "potential" human being, focused on the case in his "Are We Crazy" segment telling viewers, "If this isn't neglect, nothing is! We are not a humane society in America, we treat babies like garbage!"

Yes, and we see this as the expected result of 40 years of dehumanizing others. But frankly garbage is handled with more respect than human beings. We respect "mother earth." We recycle to protect the environment and we process wet garbage to create compost that is then used for the farming of fruits and vegetables. But when we deal with inconvenient humans like preborn children, the disabled, or the dying, we disregard all manner of reverence for human life in favor of crass disdain.

Below are snippets from around the nation that exemplify what America is thinking when it comes to the value of a single human being's life.

A few days ago, Canadian researchers "found a clear link between induced abortion and a much higher risk of subsequent pregnancies ending in preterm birth." Not a single mention was reported anywhere in the United States other than pro-life news reporting services.

Recently, South Dakota lawmakers proposed a 72-hour waiting period between abortion counseling and the abortion being committed. Pro-abortion forces are screaming bloody murder. According to Alisha Sedor, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota, "H.B. 1237, if passed, will severely limit access to abortion in South Dakota. . . . The measure could make it impossible for the state's only comprehensive women's health clinic to continue providing abortion services, effectively banning abortion in South Dakota."

What? The proposed regulation is not affecting abortion; it is merely putting a time frame between the initial appointment and the surgery date. This is not a pro-life proposal; it is simply common practice when anyone is considering major surgery.

But wait! Abortion is a woman's right, so all bets are off! To heck with the expectant mother's health and mental well-being.

In another example of blatant disregard for human life, two weeks ago Jennifer Morbelli, a 29-year-old kindergarten teacher, died in a Shady Grove, Maryland, hospital as a result of a botched abortion. Morbelli was in her 33rd week of pregnancy and the infamous Leroy Carhart performed the act of killing her baby. Though not nationally reported, the truth is that "efforts by family and hospital staff to reach Carhart while Morbelli's condition worsened were reportedly unsuccessful" and, according to Operation Rescue, may have contributed to her death.

Finally there's Julie Burkhart, the woman hoping to open South Wind Women's Center on the site where abortionist George Tiller's late-term abortion mill existed. Burkhart recently told Mother Jones magazine, "Abortion is about motherhood." She continued, "Women are thinking in a very responsible manner when choosing that [abortion]. . . . In truth these are very well thought out decisions women are making. They're taking responsibility for their lives and the lives of their future families."

Imagine it. Abortion kills babies, but we do not admit he is a baby. Abortion maims and kills expectant mothers, but we do not admit that abortion is bad for women. Those who profit from abortion claim without apology that abortion is somehow about better families. And through it all we snooze.

In America today, pregnancy is viewed through a skewed prism that has been fashioned according to personal desire, self-gratification, and discombobulated ideas about what family really means. We've gone down the path paved with birth control and arrived at a sorry destination where pregnancy is a disease, a preborn baby is a tumor, and the woman getting the abortion is the heroine.

It has been said that there is no honor among thieves, and I would add there is no honesty among the vast majority of Americans when the subject is pregnancy.

Judie Brown

Judie Brown is president and co-founder of American Life League, the nation's largest grassroots pro-life educational organization... (more)

Judie Brown is president and co-founder of American Life League, the nation's largest grassroots pro-life educational organization.

She has served three terms as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome. Daily Catholic cited her as one of the top 100 Catholics of the 20th century.

Judie has appeared on 20/20, 60 Minutes, Mother Angelica Live, The O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America, Today, Oprah, and Larry King Live, as well as hundreds of other television and radio talk shows. Her comments regularly appear in major print media nationwide, and she has written numerous editorial pieces for magazines and newspapers, including The Washington Post and USA Today.

Judie is married to Paul A. Brown, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. She and her husband have been involved in the pro-life movement since 1969.